FOODS AND FEEDING. 37 



certain part only of the provender is digested; another portion is 

 indigested. This proportion of digested and undigested food must 

 claim passing notice at least, for if the horse receives too much food, 

 or bulky food containing much indigestible waste, a large portion of 

 food must pass out unused, entailing not only the loss of this unused 

 food, but also calling for an unnecessary expenditure of vital force 

 on the part of the digestive organs of the horse. It is thus that, in 

 fact, too much food may make an animal poor. 



In selecting food for the horse we should remember the anatomical 

 arrangement of the digestive organs, as well as the physiological 

 functions performed by each one of them. Foods must be whole- 

 some, clean, and sweet, the hours of feeding regular, the mode of 

 preparation found by practical experience to be the best must be 

 adhered to, and cleanliness in preparation and administration must 

 be observed. 



The length of time occupied by stomach digestion in the horse 

 varies with the different foods. Hay and straw pass out of the stom- 

 ach more rapidly than oats. It would seem to follow, then, that oats 

 should be given after hay, for if reversed the hay would cause the 

 oats to be sent onward into the intestines before being fully acted 

 upon by the stomach, and as a result produce indigestion. Experi- 

 ence confirms this. There is another good reason why hay should be 

 given first, particularly if the horse is very hungry or if exhausted 

 from overwork, namely, it requires more time in mastication (insur- 

 ing proper admixture of saliva) and can not be bolted, as are the 

 grains. In either instance water must not be given soon after feed- 

 ing, as it washes or sluices the food from the stomach before it is fitted 

 for intestinal digestion. 



The stomach begins to empty itself very soon after the commence- 

 ment of feeding, and continues rapidly while eating. Afterwards 

 the passage is slower, and several hours are required before the stom- 

 ach is entirely empty. The nature of the work required of the horse 

 must guide us in the selection of his food. Rapid or severe labor can 

 not be performed on a full stomach. For such labor food must be 

 given in small quantity and about two hours before they go to work. 

 Even horses intended for slow work must never be engorged with 

 bulky, innutritions food immediately before going to labor. The 

 small stomach of the horse would seem to lead us to the conclusion 

 that this animal should be fed in small quantities and often, which, in 

 reality, should be done. The disproportion between the size of the 

 stomach and the amount of water drank tells us plainly that the 

 horse should always be watered before feeding. One of the common 

 errors of feeding, and the one that produces more digestive disorders 

 than any other, is to feed too soon after a hard day'^s work. This 

 must never be done. If a horse is completely jaded, it will be found 



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